BustAGroove: first encounters Parts 1 & 2
by ToastySama
Summary: After Frida steps on Heat's turf, Frida starts gaining friends and Heat learns about Groove-Tron. Once they find out about an evil plot that will take place during the Bust-A-Groove Tournament, can Heat, Frida, and friends be able to save the world? Heat x Frida
1. The New Girl

The only characters that I will consider mine are "Trippin'" aka "the high guy", "the guard", and the guy yelling at "the guard" aka his boss.  Other than that, none of the characters are mine.  I hope you enjoy this one.

BUST-A-GROOVE

_"First Encounters"  (Part 1)_

_By Toasty_

This story begins in the big city of Chicago.  The apartment a young, nineteen year old, man calls home.  He stood 5'7 and a half, and was wearing a yellow muscle shirt, khaki colored cargos, and yellow-laced white sneakers.  His Strawberry blonde hair was brushed back.  And, the young man had very distinctive features, such as his ferret like face.  Do not get the description wrong, he was not ugly, if that was what you were thinking.  The chin was a bit square, a nose that stuck out from his face, high cheekbones, and brown eyes.  He might have truly looked like a ferret if his eyes were beady.  It is the beginning of spring, but the atmosphere of the city is still the one of death that still existed in nature.  He could have been dead at the time and moment, and still remembers the awful incident that could have caused it.  The near death experience, that occurred when he crashed and burned, during a car race in New York.  Somehow he survived.  And, recovered quite quickly, too.  Was it because of luck?  His youth?  Or better yet, the strange ability he gained because of the accident.  The ability to wield flames with his own hand.  Or…was this all possible all because of a "Groove-Tron Device" which he happened to obtain one day.  Who could be this miraculous boy?  Well, with the probability of being a pyromaniac, he's called 'Fire Boy'.  But, to all of you, his name is "Heat".  Where is he going tonight?  To his favorite dance spot, where anything can happen.  Just like the tracks he races on.   I guess he believes that every chance you dare to take is a good one to do.  So, why not?

This is it, 'the club'.  Heat, as usual, is admiring one of his many tags on the dumpy walls.  He was proud that they were still there and did not receive any surprise 'touch-ups' while he was bed-ridden.  Besides that, it is around that time of night when everyone shows off their own dancing skills.  Or, with someone as talented as Heat, time to show why he is claimed the King of this place.

A high guy walks up to him, "Yo, man…."

"What's up?"

"Please, tell me that I'm trippin'."

"What are you seeing, now?"

"There's this girl, right?  And, every time I see her dance, all of the graffiti moves."

Heat smiles, "Heh!  You're trippin', man."

"But, it seems so real.  She's like a new comer, or something.  I think I never saw her before."

"You never seen half of the people who come through here because you're always on something.  When are you going to quit?"

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhh, today?"

Heat chuckles as he walks away, "Okay."  He says that EVERY week.  Heat climbs the stairs to get an aerial view of the action.  Up here is where the 'elite' get to enjoy themselves and secretly scout out competition.

"Why did you let HER in here without letting any of us know?  You know no one is allowed to be in here without the proper checks," a guy yells at the guard.

"But, she was cute, boss," the guard explained.

"Well, get her OUT of here!  If the club moves anymore, then the whole place might come down."

Heat walks over, "What are you talking about?"

"How late did YOU get here?  There's this new girl making the whole place move."

"Don't tell me that YOU'RE trippin', too."

"Look," walks Heat to one of the walls and puts Heat's hand to it, "Do you FEEL that?"

"It's probably just the music vibrating the wall.  It's an old structure, you know," takes hand off the wall.

"No!  Wait a little longer," puts Heat's hand back on the wall.  Heat can feel it move as randomly as a wave and he jumps back.

"What the…."

"I think she's a witch.  Where is she now?"  The guard shrugs.  Heat feels something inside, …like a pulse.  A racing heart beat?  It is not coming from the wall, but more toward the center of the building.

"What is this feeling," Heat thinks to himself.  The closer he gets to it, the faster it felt.  The nearer it was, the louder it also got.  It was a rush of adrenaline like the one he got from racing his car.  A feeling that he yearned to feel again.  'Like a moth to a flame'.  But, was he the moth in this situation?  He looks down onto the dance floor.  "I think she's…there?"

The guard walks over, "Yep!  *He-he-he!*  That's her all right."

"Get back to work," his boss tells him.  Heat walks back down and starts for the stage.  The feeling keeps increasing inside.  It is someone around that stage.

"But, who is it?  Who is it," Heat asked himself, "What gives off something like this?"  He looks down for a moment and remembers his **Groove-Tron Device**.  It is that thing which is generating the feeling.

"Maybe I should show some of my stuff a little earlier, tonight.  And, who not better to start on, than the new girl," he thought.  He walks up to the side of the stage, "I'm going up next."

"So, early," a girl in pigtails asks.  She was wearing a pair beige corduroys, a yellow baby tee (with matching bookbag), and white sneakers.  "I'm just warning you.  She's beaten out all the best that went up there.  She's making our group look like a fool in front of everyone."

"She's one girl.  Like you, Shorty, except she's a woman."

"I'm almost there you know.  I'm a PRETEEN!"

"Still can't wait to get a 'teen' behind your age, huh, Cry Baby?"  Shorty frowns at him.  "Ou!  Forgot.  Sorry, 'bout that.  Try not to do it, again."

"You're lucky that you're the only one that can get away with calling me that!"

"But, come on, Shorty.  She can't be that tough."

"She's like you, Heat.  She whipped them none stop for several hours and no sign of fatigue.  I'm too scared to even challenge her, unless you were here.  But, even though I know you'll back me up, I'm not even sure if YOU can beat her."  Heat just looks at Shorty and decides to give the new girl a closer look.  As he notices that the new girl was trying to make her escape, Heat runs and jumps on stage, in front of her.

Puts his hand out, "Where do you think you're going?"

"Can't a girl get a drink?"

"Not unless I say so," Heat smiling and crosses his arms.  The feeling was definitely coming from her.  The rush was stronger than from any other moment of his life.

"Well, I say, I can."

Heat laughs, "You don't know who I am, do you?"

"Don't care.  Out of my way."

"Un-unh!  You see, …I am the King of this place and you intruded into my palace.  I'll let you have your drink if you tell me your name.  And, you can avoid getting kicked out if you accept my challenge."

"The name's Frida and you're on.  Only because you didn't make a pass at me, yet, your highness.  Or will you after you lose?"

"I don't lose."

"That's not what I heard.  Or did that little accident make you forget that, too, like knowing how to properly introduce yourself."

"You can call me 'the King'."

"I might want to call you 'Burn Out'."

Heat's smile disappears and he gets tossed a bottle of water, "Here you are."  Tosses the bottle to her.  "The KING'S name is Heat," he says with what will be a familiar cocky smirk.

Frida laughs, "That's a name?"  She drinks some water, then takes a good look at him.  He does the same.  They are about the same height.  Frida has her bare feet bandaged, green and brown colored fatigue pants (which are low riders with flared legs), many colored bangles on her wrists, a tattoo on her left arm, a pumpkin colored tank top (not to mention that the shirt to be above her naval), and the white bandana to keep her long brownish black hair in back.  It was hard to tell whether she was black or Hawaiian, but it might have not mattered because she still had lovely big brown eyes.

After Frida finished, she smiled, "So, you have one, too."

"Wha-…."  Heat finally notices that the feeling he was having might have been from his Groove-Tron Device reacting to hers.

"Why so glum?  I can understand you backing out of this one.  You know it IS too soon for someone to be in that type of accident to be active so soon.  Don't know why you didn't faint coming over here.  I mean it being so hot and-."

"Hey!  Don't insult the atmosphere.  After all, I made this place what it is today and I think I'm not going easy on you, tonight."  Heat turns around, "Put on 'TOO BAD' for this one!"

"It should be me thinking about being easy on you."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah."  The music starts and the two start dancing.  Heat's style of dance is, consisting a 1970s type of break dancing, east side hip-hop, while Frida is, the more angelic ballet mixed with African dance, west coast hip-hop.  But, in the middle of their heated dance battle, the electricity goes out.  Murmurs and screams come from the crowd as after it happens.  Floodlights come on in the front of the building.

"Awe, man!  The cops are trying to bust us, again," Shorty exclaims.

"Strike, we know that you're in there!  Come out with your hands up," a cop says from a bullhorn.

"I'm not going back," a man yells. "You're NEVER getting me back in there!"

"Come out, now!"

"Alright!  I'm coming out!"  A black man, wearing a black bulletproof vest and black pants with three white racing stripes, steps out with his hands in the air.  He is also wearing sunglasses and his black hair in a high ponytail.

"Please, take out your weapons and place your weapons on the ground."

Strike quickly draws his guns, "Never!"  And, he starts spreading fire everywhere.

"Party's canceled," the high guy yells as everyone starts to run off.

"Go, Shorty!  Take them with you," Heat yells.

"Come on, Frida," Shorty beckons.

Frida starts to follow, "What does he think HE'S doing?"

"We need a distraction."  Heat makes a big fireball in his hand and throws it, creating a firewall.

"Ha, ha!  Thanks, sucker," Strike yells, then jumps the column of flame, "Ah!"  Now, he is charging at Heat.  Heat runs off and dives into a crawl space.  Strike starts to follow and is pulling Heat out by his pants.

"Get off of me!"

"You're not leaving without me!"

"Yes, he is," Strike hears Shorty shout and then her mouse jumps into his face.  Strike yells and after overcoming his shock, sees that the grate of the crawl space is closed.

Trying to open grate, but it will not budge, "I'll get you, little girl!  And, you're little rat too!"

"I'm not a little girl and he's not a rat!  He's a mouse and I'm a PRETEEN!"  They hear Strike growl at them as they get away.


	2. This is Not My Day

The place now?  It is a little restaurant known as 'BURGER WORLD'.  The time of night?  It is closing time.  Everything was quiet at the moment until three knocks are heard.

            "Yo, Fat man!  Open up!  I know you're in there!"

            "Cry Baby," a heavy voice asks then opens the grate.  'Fat man' frowns at Shorty, "Not again."  Shorty smiles and crawls out.

            "Yep," says Heat as he slides out.  "And, Shorty, you're supposed to ask if the cost is clear, first.  You know Hamm doesn't own the place.  He's a normal person, like you and me."

            "Well, after hearing what happened to you, it looks like I'm the only one with a job."

            Heat frowns, "Does everyone know?"

            "Whoa!  Where am I," the high guy asks as he gets out.

            "You're home," Heat sarcastically.

            "Cool," he props himself against the wall and goes to sleep.  Hamm, a fat Trinidadian with blond dyed hair, picks up the grate and starts to put it back.

            "No, wait.  One more," he reaches in and helps Frida drag herself out.

            "Where are we," Frida asks.

            "Now, we're at casa de Hamm.  Burger World.  Hamm, this is Frida."

            "Nice to meet you, but now what?"

            "Get our asses back home as quickly and silently as possible."

            "Shorty, isn't it past your bedtime," Hamm inquired.

            "So, what?  I want to stay up and party like Heat does.  He's my idol," Shorty smiles as she hugs Heat's side.

            Heat smiles, "We're getting you home, first.  You need your rest to be as good as I am."

            "You mean sleep all day because I have no life now," Shorty giggled.

            "Let's go.  See you later, Hamm.  And, don't let Trippin' try to eat his own arm, again, okay?"

            "So, where are you two going once I get put back," Shorty asks.

            "Yeah, Frida.  Where are you going?"

            "To the nearest, fairest hotel."

            "You two are going to do naughty stuff in there aren't ya?"

            "'Naughty stuff'?  How old are you, Shorty?"

            "I'm twelve."

            "And, what type of naughty stuff do you think two people would be doing?"

            "You know….  Stuff."

            "Whoa, whoa!  Wherever you're going with this, it's way too early for the two of us to be doing things like that.  Well, …."

            "Are you kidding?  I mean I would.  But, even though you have to pay for the room, you don't have to clean the mess.  And, I would do it EVERY night!  It's one of my dreams to do that."

            "You mean girl's your age think about this thing?"  They stop at a door.

            "Well, …not ALL of them.  And, that's because they've already done it."

            "What?!"

            "Heat, can we do it together one day?"

            "Well, Shorty, I'm not sure if-."

            "I don't get it.  What is it that you would like to do with Heat," Frida asked.

            Shorty carefully opens the door, "Have a pillow fight and jumping on the beds, of course.  DUHUH!"  Heat looks a bit flushed.  "Three more questions?  Where are you staying, how long will you stay, and how old are you?"

            "I'm staying here for a couple of weeks.  The place I'm really staying at is around the other side of town.  And, I'm seventeen."

            "One more question?"

            "It's getting late, Shorty," Heat intervened.  "Now, get inside before we all get in trouble."

            "Night," and she closes the door behind her.

            "Come on," Frida smiled as she ran off.

            "Wait up!  You don't know this city."  After some sneaking around the some cops, they arrive at Heat's part of the neighborhood.  "Shesh.  The cops are everywhere, now.  I guess you will have to stay at my place.  I'm afraid to even go there, myself.  Is that okay with you?"

            "Yeah.  But, once they start to disperse, I'm gone."  After they make it into his room, they decide to sit around and wait.  But, the flashing lights never seem to leave.  They eventually end up falling asleep.  When Heat wakes up in the morning, he notices that Frida's not there.  He spends that Saturday morning walking around the city.  Wandering if today was really Saturday.  If everything he thought that happened was all a nightmare, or at most a bad omen.  But, the one thing that seemed all too real was the feeling he had, caused by his groove-tron reacting to another.  If it was for real, was that feeling associated with a destiny?  Or could it be a desire to feel danger once again.  He threw away his thoughts, being taken in by hunger.  Now, the lone man makes his way to Burger World.  Maybe food in his stomach will make him forget the things in his head.

            "Frida?"  He whispered.  The strong feeling struck him.  He tried to ignore it and to keep walking to where he was going, but it just kept getting stronger.  It was a rush of power.  A power that he wanted to challenge.  He gave in to his senses and walked to an alleyway.  Why here?

            The sound of a gun being cocked, "Long time, no see.  I see they didn't get you."

            "Who are you?"

            "I'm the BIGGEST conspirator on the planet.  I'm Strike and you better remember that.  If we don't have a talk, then it's gonna be the third strike and you'll be out.  Got it?  Now, I'm a nice guy.  I need to ask you a favor.  Since the cops are looking me and I can't really go anywhere, I'll need your help, soon."

            "Why should I help you?"

            "Because they're tired of your parties.  In fact they think you're my accomplice.  So, you better watch your back."

            "Why are you telling me this?"

            "Because if you don't squeal, I don't.  Got it?  Besides, …don't you feel it?"

            "Feel what?  This?  Something which I bet you have, too."

            "Oh.  So, THAT'S why you walked right towards me.  But, there are more than two of us.  A whole lot more.  We are the chosen children."

            "What do you mean?  People make their own destines."

            "And, sometimes what we want our destinies to be involves other people.  I will save your butt because we're the same, boy.  But, in the end, I have the final say of what goes on."

            "No one predicts how I live."

            "So, you say in what you want YOU'RE destiny to be.  But, I tell everyone what to do in mine."  Strike comes out from the shadows, "You like?"  He is wearing Trippin's clothes.  "But, I got to get out of this soon.  It smells like…well who cares?  I'll do that after I get a hair cut."  Puts gun away.  "I know there's more.  You can either take orders from me or be struck down by me.  And, I guess I'll know you're decision when we dance side by side."  He starts to walk deeper into the alley, "That's how we are all linked, you know.  By our dancing."

            "What does this have anything to do with dancing?"

            "Use it while you dance.  You'll see."

Heat goes to Burger World and tries to explain everything that happened to Hamm.  Heat is sitting backwards in a chair while Hamm is sitting across from him, taking a break, and Burger Dog is cooking.

            "Heat this up, will you?"

            Heat points his finger out and starts to cook a burger, "This has to be a dream.  There's no way that this could be happening.  Burger dog, pinch me!"  Burger Dog walks over, reaches up and back slaps Heat.  "Ow!  I said 'pinch me'," Heat rubbing his face.

            "He's a dog.  If you wanted a pinch, you should've asked me."

            "Now, I don't know what's worse.  Getting pimples by being pinched by greasy fingers, being pimp slapped by a dog, becoming a criminal, or meeting a mysterious girl and having her disappear on you."

            "Well, you're not exactly a criminal, yet.  Just associated with one by mistake.  And, don't worry, Heat.  I got a way to pay off your rent and you don't even have to risk your life for it."

            "Huh?  That's new.  But, for the last time, I'm not wearing a hair net!"

            "No, not here.  I meant THIS," Hamm shows him a poster for a dance tournament.  "I know that with your skills, you might do well enough to keep everything going for a month or two."

            "I'm not sure.  Doing this?  Might get me in more trouble."

            "I thought you looked for trouble."  Heat smirks at him.  "Besides.  That girl's from out of town, right?  Maybe she came here for the contest, too.  In fact, I was thinking about joining it, myself.  I've been snacking on junk food for too long and I need to shed a few pounds."

            "You mean, I get to see the dancing legend dance in MY lifetime?"

            "It's true.  In fact if I were you, I would start practicing, now."

            "Can I have that flier?"  Hamm gives it to him.  "He could be right.  Maybe I will meet her, again.  And, when I do, I'll prove to her why they call me the King," Heat thought.  "Hey!  The last time for tryout is tonight!"

            "I know.  That's why I told you to start practicing now."  Heat gets off the chair and tosses the burger to Hamm as he runs out.

            "Ow!  Hot!"

Heat goes back to the club and practices, like others who are there.  He keeps thinking about what Strike said.  About using his groove-tron while he danced.  What would it do to his dancing ability?  But, he decided not to test it out, yet.  He was starting to get a little superstitious because of the bad luck that he was running into lately.


	3. Star Search

"I am experiencing a fever!  Saturday night fever," a man in a white disco outfit exclaims.  Heat hears this as he walks in, wearing a black T-shirt and shorts with a silver chain glinting from outside one of his pockets.  He looks around to see all the girls go crazy at his pre performance.

"Heat," Shorty yells as she runs up with the long brown pigtails streaming behind her, as usual, and hugs him.  She was wearing her famous red cap backwards, a red two-toned horizontal stripped shirt, overalls, and her white dancing sneakers.

"Shorty?  Aren't you supposed to have a curfew?"

"Yeah.  But, my parents allowed me to compete."

"This isn't a game, Shorty."  The spotlights float upward to a platform.  There a girl with (slightly dyed green) blonde hair, very feminine blue eyes, and in a fancy white cat uniform strikes a pose.  Shorty gasps.

"What is it, Shorty?"

"Don't you know who she is?"

"Brittney Spears?"

"No!  It's Kitty-N!  She's pretty, brave, and strong.  I want to be JUST like her."

"And, what about me?"

Shorty, star dazed, "Who cares?"  Kitty-N strikes another pose.

"I am 'costume play soldier', Kitty-N!  In the name of Justice and Fashion I order you to get off the stage because not only are you a disgrace to modern dance, but I also have the right to punish you with my power of glam!"

"Heh!  You're all talk, baby.  You should know this.  I am Hiro-Kun, 'the dancing hero'!"  As he strikes a disco pose, "Ha!"  "And, you're insulting me because you love me like everyone else."

"Oh, please," Heat mumbles during Hiro's speech.

"In fact," takes out a comb and goes through his brown hair to make sure it's perfect, "I don't know how I could even stand living with myself because I'm so beautiful.  I think the whole world deserves to see this beautiful face, this sexy body, this-."

"I'm ready to bring it on right now!"

Shorty grabs his arm, "Heat, no!  I want to see Kitty-N dance."  She smiles, "Besides, did you register, yet?"

"That's right!  I forgot.  Be back."  The place is huge and packed with people.  There was no way Heat would find anything in this.  Kitty-N gets to the floor, aided by a zip line.

"Hiro-Kun versus Kitty-Nakajima!  Get ready," the announcer's voice rang.  And, the two start to dance to Hiro's song, 'Natural Playboy'.  After Heat did what needed to be done first, he decided to conduct a search of what his future competition might be.  But, he had a feeling inside.  One generated by his groove-tron device.  An exotic feeling being given off by a woman.  For some reason he already knew it was a woman.  And, there was a scent of roses, though none were to be seen in this environment.  Maybe it was a characteristic of the person he was about to see next.  He walked over to see a black fortuneteller who was all in pink.  Even the scarf over her nose and mouth, the eye shadow, and the hair were all of the same pink color.

"Ah!  Young man, come over here.  I can see the confusion in your eyes.  And, I also see into the soul.  So, come here and have your fortune told."  Heat sat down, taken in by the mysterious woman.  "You're looking for someone.  A young woman."

"Who isn't?"  She sighed at him.

"I am the great, 'Diamond'.  I know many things.  Past, present, and future.  I know that you have a scar.  A mental scar and a scar on your heart.  You are going through many troubles and have little time to find all of the answers.  So, I suggest that you seek my help."  'Diamond', holds out her hand and Heat follows suit.  "I'm not going to read your palm for free!  That costs extra.  Give me fifty bucks."

Heat stands up, "What?!  I'm outta here!  I don't need to pay fifty dollars just to hear what you make up."  He starts to walk away.

"Wait!  I know who you are looking for!  You are looking for a woman named Frida!"  Heat turns around, taken by the fact that she knew that.  "And, you're here with a little girl named Shorty and she has a pet mouse named Columbo."  Close enough for him.  Shorty prefers to call Columbo her dance partner.

He walks back over, "Alright.  No tricks.  If you know what I want to know, I want to hear it."

"The woman, for whom you search, is here, too."

"Where is she?"

"You'll she her soon enough."

"I'm dancing against her?"

"Ahh.  A score to settle from not too long ago.  But, she likes you."

"How?"

"The same way you like her."

"In what way?"

"You're opponent will be quite a match for you."

"Wait, wait, wait!  In what way does she like me?  Elaborate on that."

Diamond's eyes flash with delight, "So, …I am right.  You DO care about her.  But, we both already knew that."

"It's not like that, lady-."

"DIA-mond!"

"Tell me more about her.  Where is she exactly?"

"She is preparing for her dance.  But, you should worry more about your match against another teenage boy, than with a woman whom you claim not to care about.  But, to me it seems you do."

"Will I get to talk with her soon?"

The announcer starts to announce the next match before Diamond can answer, "Pinky!  Versus…."

"Opps!  That's me, gotta go."  She gets up, kicks off her furry toed, high heels, and tears off the scarf and grabs pink high-heeled boots as she runs off.

Guy one, "And, she cheaps another person out of money, again!"

"What do you mean?"

Guy two, "You got about half your money's worth."

"What?"

Guy one, "Well, at least he got more information than I did."  Both guys laugh.  Heat makes a face, sighs, and walks away to find Shorty.

"Heat, I'm up next.  Watch me win this one."

"Go, get 'em, Shorty."

Shorty steps up onto the stage as the announcer says, "Shorty versus Frida!"

"Frida?"  He looked up and saw her.  She wearing red, leather looking, polyester pants and a white t-shirt.  The feeling of being so close to her groove-tron was amazing.  And, maybe he was a little jealous of Shorty now.  He wanted to be as close as he could to it.  The feeling might also be driving him mad.  But, the only thought on his mind was how amazing she danced.  It was like she was a movie star.  Her dance style reflected everything a woman wanted to be.  Angelic grace, sexiness, the playfulness, understated strength, …everything.  And, what struck him the most was that one pose where she sticks her finger out to the crowd before getting off the stage.  After the dancing was done, Shorty led her to him.  Frida looking at him innocently with her eyes.

"Why is she looking at me like that," Heat thought.  She, then, smiled at him because he was unnoticeably giving her a hot look.

"Still think you can beat me?"

His cocky smile appeared once more, "Yeah.  Anytime of day."

"Well, you won't if you keep on staring at me like that and you learn how to control your groove-tron device.  They both have their own secrets.  I think you should find yours."

"How?"

"Tap into your own soul for that answer."  Heat looks and heads to the stage as his name is announced.  She touches his shoulder, "Heat…." But, no words needed to be communicated between the two.  He knew what she knew.  And, she found out about Strike, what he said, and Pinky.

"I know.  And, don't worry.  I'll be all right, Frida," Heat's attitude shinning through.  Frida shrugs a 'whatever'.

"Go get him, Heat," Shorty shouted.

"And, nearing the end, our next match is Heat versus Gas-O!"  Gas-O was a teenaged kid who had on a yellow suit with metallic armor over it, a metal type of backpack, which might have supplied the oxygen for his gas mask, a red Mohawk, and very pale skin.

"Yeeeeeeeeee-hawwwww," Gas-O yelled.  It was obvious that he must have spent many days indoors since he had a country accent.  Heat could tell that he was looking at him from behind the shaded eyepieces.  A whirlwind of chaos looking for more.  And, that doesn't even start to describe the other things that made Heat's skin crawl beside that.  "It looks like this one's going to be a heated match.  But, I'm going to make final cut."

"We'll see about that."  Once they started dancing, Heat saw what Pinky was talking about.  Both of them were break-dancers.  Gas-O being the more modern one, which seems to be from the 1980s, mixed with whatever other madness that went through his groove-tron device.  And, this time seemed like the roughest for Heat.  With every move that diminished Heat's strength, the opposite happened with Gas-O.  And, Heat had no other outs.  He put all of his faith into his groove-tron and made a quick come back.  The more moves he pulled off, the better he felt.  And, after he was finished, he felt stronger than he had after bouncing back from his accident.  And, once the match was over, he finally decided that if competition was going to be this tough, he was going to be stronger.  And, he believed that the device would pull him through every time.  And, with its power, he believed that he could become the best racecar driver in the world.  So, the dream starts to become a potential reality.


	4. Good Girls, Bad Girls, and the Criminal ...

BUST-A-GROOVE

_"First Encounters"  (Part 2)_

By Toasty

"It's finished?  How much will it cost?"  Right now the blue eyed, blonde hair bombshell, Kelly, is making a deal of a lifetime.  "WHAT!  You have to be out of you're mind!  I'm not paying for that!"

"Look, lady.  This suit was specially tailored to your measurements, for one, and if anyone else did, they would in good mind not buy this thing. The extra charge is because we were lucky to get it out of the shop once the cops were busting one of them down.  Now, I don't care what you do with that suit lady, that's your business, but no matter what you're going to have to pay.  And, since I **AM** such a nice guy, I'll give the suit to you for eighteen days before I start asking you for payments."

"But, where am I going to get all that money?"

"I don't even care if it comes from killing baby seals, just get it!"  Kelly sighed as she hung up the phone and looked up as she heard a knock on the door.

"Kelly, I know what your problem is. And, I think, I, Pinky Diamond, can help you with your financial troubles.  As long as YOU, help me."

"Huh?  What do you know?"

"I know about that sweatshop busting down and they have a dancing outfit that you absolutely must have.  Are you in?"

Kelly gives a wicked smile, "Keep talking."

Heat was walking the streets, hoping to find Frida, then quickly gave up his search because he promised to criticize Shorty's moves, like they do every Sunday.  When he arrived, in his red Chicago Bulls Jersey and white stripped red squishes, he already heard that Shorty was playing her favorite song.  As he walked behind the building, he saw that Frida, who was wearing a white sleeveless turtleneck and white pants, was dancing with Colombo.

"Hi, Heat!  Frida's so cool," Shorty smiled at him.

Heat watched her for a while, "She alright.  But, what is she doing here?"

"She gave me her number.  Didn't she give hers to you as well?  Oh, yeah, I also have Hiro's and almost got Kitty-N's, too."

"Hmm, …you got Christina Aquileria's number?  GOD, she's a hottie!"

Frida stopped the music, "Look, Columbo.  Burnout's here."

"What did you call me?  I am THE KING and once I beat you, you're gonna say it to everyone, once you step back into my club!"

"You wish!  For one thing, I know you don't look as good as I do when you dance."

"Are you putting grease on the fire, babe?"

Frida huffs, "DON'T call me babe and I wouldn't put grease upon your fire, even if you were the last provider in the universe.  Now, let's get this over with, fool!"  Heat turns on the music and the two start to dance.  While this is happening, Strike is sewing up a poorly made costume.  He crawls out, on his knees, in a Burger costume and stops next to Shorty.

"Hi, Burger Dog.  Are you here to practice, too?"  Strike nods and a button eye falls off.  Columbo starts to back away from him.  "Well, you can practice with Columbo!"

Strike picks him up, "Cool."  As he crawls away, Shorty has a puzzled look on her face.

"Heat?"

"What is it, Shorty?"

"Does Burger Dog talk?"

"Shorty, dogs don't talk."

Shorty gasps, "COLUMBO!"  Strike throws off the costume and is heard laughing, as he escapes.  The three chase him, but he disappears within a manhole.  "Columbo," Shorty starts to cry.

Heat growls.  "That's the LAST straw!  Believe me.  When I find Strike," opens his hand, which is filled with a large flame, "I'm going to snuff him out," he closes his hand, smoke steams everywhere.  As the smoke thickens, colored lights flash randomly, faster, then start moving like spotlights as the smoke dissipates.  Five figures can be made out.

The first one to be seen is the tallest figure, who is standing on the far left, she is wearing a black cat suit, "You can't get rid of us, that easily!"

"Because, we never give up," woman on far right, in gray cat suit.

"And, we never say die," woman second from left, in yellow cat suit.

"We won't show you mercy, now," woman second from the right, in brown cat suit.  Figure in center is standing backwards, leaning most of her weight on one foot.

As she performs half a spot turn, she says, "In the name of: Truth, Love, and Justice, you will be punished by," the camera closes up on Kitty-N's face as she finishes.  Camera goes back to wide shot.

"Litter Box Warriors five," all five strike a pose.

"Cut," the director yells, next a buzzer goes off.  "That's a wrap!  Girls, come over here, I have something to tell you."  All of them run over to see the good news, as they can see by the smile on his face.  "There's good news.  You know this scene I've been grilling you on?  Well, it's a part of the movie."  The girls cheer, celebrate, and are in disbelief that they are really doing a movie.  "As we're doing this, they will build the rest of the set in another building.  But, there's bad news, too."  The girls stop, some with concerned looks on their faces.  "After this, I'm letting you girls go.  The Litter Box Warriors will be no more."  Protest comes from the five.  "Hey, hey.  All of this is being done because our current contract will be over soon.  And, if you do this for too long, your careers might become dead ends, like Sylvester Stallone's.  After you get changed, hand your costumes in.  They will be using the measurements for the new suits."

"I can't believe that the show is over.  It's been a lot of fun getting to know you four," the cat in the gray suit says, but can't hide her frown.

"Me, too, Kitty-I," Kitty-N says.

"Thank God, this is over," exclaims the girl in the yellow suit.

The girl in the black suit is sitting on the window ceil, looking out onto the street, "I'm thinking the same thing, Kitty-Y.  But, I don't care.  I didn't even care if we were to be canceled after the first week of this show's beginning.  Now, is the time for us to start new lives, however we wish."

The cat in the brown suit, spun around, "That's easy for YOU to say.  You happen to be 'the tough alley cat', just like your character.  You never even auditioned for the show!  I don't even know why they even let you act with us."

"Don't put your anger out on Kitty-X, Kitty-C.  I am the one that should not have been allowed on the show.  I'm no real hero.  There's a fifth wheel to every five person group and I'm it," Kitty-I started to cry at that moment.

"Oh, Kitty-I, don't cry."  Kitty-N hugged her, "Remember… remember episode 33, when we had to fight the Spider King?"

Kitty-X walked over as Kitty-Y joined in, "Or the water trap in episode 85," She winked.

Kitty-X lifted up Kitty-I's head, "What about the Lion Tamer in episode 305?"  She leans down as her sad companion smiles at her, "How about that one episode where you had to save Kitty-Y from that cobra?  You were a real hero, then."

"I only did what I had to do.  Kitty-Y could have really been hurt."  The rest of her friends smiled, except Kitty-C.

"That doesn't matter now," Kitty-C sighed.  "Kitty-Y, Kitty-N, and I were the only ones who had ever acted before.  In fact, if you ask me, I think Kitty-Y should have gotten the lead role.  Come on, Kitty-N was in a commercial or two for crying out loud!"

Kitty-Y frowns at her, "That's quite all right, Kitty-C.  Everyone is deserves a lead role in something once in their lives."

"No one is going to want us after this.  Kitty-X will be happy being a normal person.  But, will you, Kitty-Y?  Acting is in your heart and I know that.  If you can't act again BECAUSE they let Kitty-N take front and center, your life is ruined!"

"That's not true…IT'S NOT TRUE," Kitty-I runs out of the room, sobbing loudly.

Kitty-Y gives Kitty-N a bad look, "Kitty-I!  Come back!"  She ran off to be with the teary eyed girl.  Kitty-C, also left after giving Kitty-N a bad look.  Kitty-N just sighed and started to cry.

"Kitty-N, …look at me.  Now's not the time to cry.  You are a hero, right," Kitty-X strikes a pose, then looks back at her, "Part of being one is to have the courage to keep going on, though you can not change anything.  Keep strong.  Now's not the time to become weak.  One of the biggest challenges of your life will be coming up soon."  She picks up her costume and slings it over her shoulder, "Kitty-N…don't give up."

Kitty-N watches the black haired woman leave into the darkness of the hallway as she thinks to herself, "But, they were right.  I, rather, not be the star of the show.  It should've been anyone else, but me.  But, if someone asked me 'who would I choose to be the hero of the show', it would be you, Kitty-X."


	5. KittyN, now's the time!

Frida is watching Heat eating a pile of burgers, while Shorty is picking at her food, "Don't worry, Shorty.  Heat and I will find Columbo."

"What's with this 'Heat and I'?  I'm not going anywhere!"

"Well, if you keep on eating like there ain't no tomorrow, then you'll definitely lose the tournament."

"Heat?" Shorty looked at him with big eyes, "You know that Columbo would want you to look for me if I were lost.

"Shorty, how could I forget how much he means to you?"

"Then, you'll do it?"

Frida stands and pulls Heat out of his seat, "What are you waiting for?  Let's go!"

"Just one more burger for the road-."  A news reporter comes on and starts talking about the 'Litter Box Warriors five' movie.

"I can't believe it!  They're filming the movie RIGHT HERE," Shorty shouted.  "I can't wait to see it with Columbo."

"Don't worry, Shorty.  Columbo will be back before they even start filming."  Heat and Frida both run out of the restaurant.  As the two run across the busy road, Heat almost gets hit by a car.  As Heat argues with the driver, our attention goes up to an apartment window, where a dark haired man is sitting besides his laptop, reading the newspaper, while drinking some coffee.

"Hmm…looking for dancers to model for new toy."  Hiro takes another sip of coffee and spits it out as he reads on, "They're offering THAT much for a messily toy?  I could buy a new apartment and so much more with that."  He runs up to the mirror and checks out his tall hair, "Do you know a dancer that could model for a new toy, Hiro?  Of course, I do.  It would be me.  Hiro, the man that all the chickadees dig.  With this pretty smile and THESE awesome cheekbones, who COULD resist a man just like me."  Hiro packs one of his dancing outfits into a suitcase and walks out of the hotel.  As he walks down the street, our interest is cast upon a manhole, which music seems to be playing from.  Strike is in a room that he made himself, trying to perfect his dancing technique.

"What do you think of that, Gumbo," Strike asks Columbo as he turns off the music.  Columbo crosses his arms as he scoffs and turns his head.  "Aw…what's up?  If you don't say you're sorry for what you did to me at that party, I'm gonna-," Strike turns around and draws his gun, "Who's there?"  A shadow walks out from behind a pillar and Strike shots at it.  The person dodges three of his shots and shots the gun out of his hand with one bullet.

"Strike.  Now you know better then to shot at me."

"Who are you?"

A tall black woman walks out from the shadows wearing metallic gray pedal pushers and a pink midriff halter that has its collar up, "Pinky Diamond."

"That can't be…the legendary, Pinky Diamond?  Why would a person like you be looking for me?"

"You've just answered your own question.  The only way you would know that I was looking for you is if you have a groove-tron yourself.  But, I have a deal that you might be interested in."

"And, what do you know about me?"

"I know I can convince the cops that you did not do the crime that you're wanted for.  Now are you in," her gun clicks, "or are you out?"

It is after dark and a shrouded woman is stalking among the movie buildings of the Litter Box Warriors 5 set.  She slips into a building and turns on three of the lights.  She walks over to the middle of the floor and puts down a boom box.  She takes off her disguise to reveal that she is Kitty-N in a black cat costume.

She twills around in it, "I can't believe it.  I'm actually in the suit.  I knew I was too small to fit into hers and this feels so good on me.  I guess a small bribe of an autograph does wonders."  She turns the boom box on and starts to dance to a techno song.  As the music takes her all around the room, she notices two small people in the distance.  All of a sudden she feels, time stops and that nothing else is in motion except the two dancing aliens.

They stop in front of her and bow, "Hello, young one.  We are Capoeria."

"Capoeria," Kitty-N asked as she stooped down to them.

"Yes.  We have come a long way to find the one of whom this belongs to."  One of them held a small object to her.

"What?  What is this," she asked as she held it in her hands.

"It is a groove-tron device.  But, THIS one is a very special one.  This one will only work for the one who posses the heart of a true hero."

"You must be mistaken.  I'm the wrong person.  You're looking for Kitty-X."

"No.  This belongs to you."

"No!  It can't.  This is someone else's costume.  I'm not the person you are looking for.  Even if I was, …I'm not good enough for the job."

"You are a hero, are you not?"  After they say that, Kitty-N looks down at the costume that she is wearing, thinking about what Kitty-X told her.  When she looks back up, she sees that the two aliens are gone and that she is finishing the dance move that she was performing a moment ago.

"That was strange."  Kitty-N switches to the next song and starts to dance again, but this time, with more grace.  As she does so, with eyes closed, her body is surrounded by an aura made by the groove-tron.

"Who's there?"

"Ahh!"  A small girl with big brown eyes and long brown hair, under a red backwards cap, falls down.  The startled girl was wearing black construction boots, blue jeans, and a white long sleeve shirt on with only one of the front shirttails tucked in.

"Oh!  I didn't mean to scare you.  Come out, now."

"I'm so sorry.  I didn't want to disturb your practice.  I only wanted to see the set for the movie."

Kitty-N laughs, "You shouldn't be here.  What's your name?"

"I'm Shorty.  And, you're one of the Litter Box Warriors five.  You're Kitty-X?  WOW, you're tall."

"Not exactly.  I'm Kitty-N.  This is a…a ah, …a TEST SUIT!  Yeah, I modeled this suit as one of the prototypes for the original.  Then, they made them different colors for the show," she chuckles nervously at the end of her lie.

"Neat!"  Shorty then gasps, "Oh, my God, OH, my God, OH, MY GOD!  I'm really meeting Kitty-N, I'm really meeting Kitty-N…in the flesh."  She looks up at the somewhat six-foot teen, in awe.

"You know you're not supposed to be here."  Shorty frowns.  Then, Kitty-N whispers, "And, neither am I."  The two smile at each other.  "Tell you what.  If we both leave right now, we can continue our little chitchat in an empty parking lot somewhere.  Ok?"  Shorty nods her head in agreement.

As the two walk outside, they hear laughing from the roof.  They both look up and see a man standing with a machine gun in his hands.

"STRIKE!  You meany!  Give me back Columbo!"

"Come and get him yourself," as he shots at her, Kitty-N covers Shorty.  After the first two seconds, Kitty-N is amazed that the bullets are bouncing off a force field that has surrounded her.  "What the hell-," as Strike exclaims that, Kitty-N makes an amazing leap to the top of the roof and kicks the gun out of his hands."

"You're that wrong doer called Strike, aren't you?  You're not getting away with this."

"Yes, I will.  Bye," he says as he breaks into a run.

"YA," Kitty-N yells as she throws a projectile of light at him.  Strike ducks it and Pinky jumps into the path of it.  Next, Pinky takes out a tarot card and whispers something and the projectile bounces off a force field around her.  The projectile comes back quickly at Kitty-N and hits her off the roof.  Kitty-N struggles to move, but passes out.

"Hey, Pinky!  I have the kid.  But, what about the cat girl," Kelly asks as she looks down at Kitty-N, while holding a bound and gagged Shorty.

Pinky steps up to the edge of the roof and looks down at blonde woman wearing a slate gray pant suit, whom lies past her pink opened toed high heeled shoes and pink toenails, "Leave her there.  There's no need to mess with the star of a TV show, for now."


	6. Little girl Lost

 "Kitty-Nakajima?  Miss Nakajima?  Miss Nakajima?"  Kitty-N wakes up and sees a nurse talking to her.  You have visitors.

"Kitty-N, are you ok," Heat asks as both he and Frida sits at either side of her bed.

"We brought you, flowers," Frida smiled.

"You shouldn't have," Kitty-N weakly smiled back.

"Yeah, she shouldn't have.  She used her powers to pick those things off of someone's window ceil."

"Heat!"

"What?  And, I'm the bad one out of the two of us?  Look, Kitty-N.  We were the ones that found you.  And, the only reason why we found you as quickly, as we did, was because we felt Strike nearby."

"Strike?  Yes, I saw him.  He was with Pinky."

"You mean, Pinky Diamond?!?  That woman who cheated me?"

"And, …there was a third person with a groove-tron, also, …but, I passed out before I could sense her identity."

"What?!"

Frida was astonished, "Wow.  You're very good with your groove-tron.  How long have you been practicing with it?"

"Only for ten minutes."

"And, you could attack with it so soon," Heat asked.  Kitty-N nodded.  "Why did it take ME so long?"

Frida ignored him, "Do you know anything else about them?"

"They kidnapped a little girl named Shorty.  And, I also know where they were retreating back to."

"Can you tell us where they're at," Heat asks.

"I'll do better than that.  You're an artist, right?"  Frida takes out a pencil and a sketch pad.  Kitty-N touches Frida's arm and an aura surrounds the two of them.  Heat watches in amazement as Frida's eyes goes white and scribbles something down.  After the aura disappears, Kitty-N smiles, "That's it!"

"Thanks for your help, Kitty-Nakajima.  Is there anything I could do for you?"

"Yes.  Please don't call me that?  Kitty-N will do just nicely."

"Let's go, Heat!  We got ourselves a map!"

"Bye," Heat says as Frida drags him out.  As they do, Kitty-X walks into the room.

"Kitty-X!  You're here to see me?"

"I would've came in earlier, but you know how I feel about people."

"Fine.  But, it's a good thing that you're here.  I need to ask a favor of you."

"What is it?  It better not be a game."

"Unfortunately, I can not dance in my final audition to get into the Bust-A-Groove tournament because of my injuries.  So, I'm asking you to take my place as I recover."

"You owe me.  I'll ask your costume designer to make a copy of your suit for me."

"No.  Use your own costume…and wear this, too."  She gives Kitty-X her groove-tron device.

"What is this?"

"Promise me you'll wear it, while you're dancing for me?"

"As you wish.  But, what do I get from this?"

"If you like it by the time I recover, you can keep it."

"And, if I don't?"

"Shorty should be in bed, sleeping right now."

"Heat, …don't blame yourself for her disappearance.  I promise that we'll get her back."

"How far are we from the hideout?"

"We're right above it, from what this map tells us.  We're gonna have to guess their exact location, from here on."

Heat looks at their abandoned surroundings, "All right, …let's go!  Now, which building are they in?"

"Not, which building, sweetheart," as she looks down.

"Then, where," as he looks at her, "Oh, COME…ON!"

"A little help?"

Heat pulls off the man cover, "Ladies first…."  Frida gives him a bad look, but he just wiggles his eyebrows at her as he smiles.  Next, she disappears into the manhole, followed by Heat, who covers it.  The two of them run in the direction, which they feel that Strike is, until they hit a certain fork in the channels.

"What's wrong, Frida?"

"There's someone with a groove-tron THIS way and another one THAT way," as she points.

"So, we'll split up.  No problem," Heat says, as he starts to head to his right.

"Wait.  One of them has to be Strike, but the other one could be Pinky Diamond."

"You're right about Strike, but the other one is not Pinky."

"How do you-?"

"JUST…trust me.  Ok?  The other one is the accomplice because their power is not the same as Pinky's.  So, I take Strike and you take the weaker foe?"

"If you know which one is Strike, why can't we both go after him?"

"Because the other person might be or HAVE Shorty with them.  We have to be thorough."

"Ok.  Then, I'll get Strike while you rescue Shorty, since I know how to use my powers better."

"Fine.  He's that way," as he points to the right side of the fork with an unhappy look on his face.  As she goes off in that direction, she hears Heat chuckling to himself.

"I know you!  You LIED to me!"  She runs over and punches him and Heat flinches from the pain.  "I'm serious.  I'll be all right.  Just bring Shorty home.  I know how concerned you are about her.  Don't stand there…GO!"

He sighs.  "But, promise me to meet us at her house, once we're done."

"Ok.  Now, let's not keep her waiting."  The two of them nod their heads at each other and run off into different directions.

"GREAT," Heat thought to himself, "She took the bait.  Now, Strike's going to really pay for all the things that he did to me and my friends."


	7. Heat vs Strike: round 2

BUST-A-GROOVE

_"First Encounters" (Part 3)_

By Toasty

As Heat runs through the tunnel, he hears a scream. "Shorty!" He runs faster towards the direction of the voice.

"That's no fair! You cheated," Shorty pouts. "Start over."

"I wouldn't have cheated, if you didn't let Columbo drink my ice tea, Shorty," Strike yelled back. They both sigh, then Shorty takes back all the cards, shuffles them, then hands them back out. "Do you have a Goldfish?"

"Go, Fish. Do you have a Blue Bass?"

Strike groans and hands her the card, "Do you have a Cat-?" Both turn to see a flame at one of the entranceways to their tiny room, "Heat!" Heat comes from behind and punches him behind his head. The two men start fighting on the floor.

"Stop. Stop it, stop it, stop it!" They continue. Shorty finally lets out a long shrill and the both of them stop to look. Shorty points to Columbo, "A MOUSE!!" The two get up to pound the small caged creature to death for the small girl, until they realize that it is Columbo and Shorty puts her hands on her hips, as she gives them both a look of disapproval. "LOOK AT YOU TWO! Grown men, fighting. You should be ashamed of yourselves." Both of them frown at their scolding. "Now, shake hands and be friends."

"He attacked me, first, Shorty."

"He kidnapped you!"

"No, I didn't. Pinky did."

"Well, you were holding her here against her will."

"It's ok now, since Strike's my friend," Shorty butted in.

"Then, let her go!" Strike holds out his arms towards Shorty, in a gesture, that she could have left anytime she liked, since she was not tied down. "Then, WHY are you STILL here, Shorty?"

"He won't give Columbo back to me until he says he's sorry. So, we're waiting until he says it." Columbo squeaks something. "He didn't know that we preferred to be called that, so forget it." Columbo squeaks something, again. "Ok. He said there's no reason for him to say sorry to Strike for biting him, if Heat doesn't say sorry for hitting Strike, too."

"What!?!"

"You heard the pre-teen. None of us ain't going anywhere until both you and Columbo there say you're sorry to me."

"OH, NO I'M NOT! Give me those cards! This is going to be a long night."

"Heat!" Heat and Strike sit opposite of one another and Strike starts shuffling.

"Name the game, 'Burnout'."

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

"Oh. I see. Only your little girlfriend can call you that, I got ya."

"Frida's not my girlfriend," he flushes across his face, for a moment.

"In fact where is she?"

"I lied to her, so I can take you out, myself!"

"Well, you might think we have all the time in the world, but I don't think so. If we don't quit first because of the dance tournament, it's definitely gonna be that Frida finds us first." Heat's face shots a look of question. Strike laughs, "That's right. She's a woman. And, once she finds out that you lied to her, she's gonna kick your butt, and it's not going to be on pay-per-view, either." Strike laughs wickedly. Heat mumbles something under his breath. "Huh? What was that? Couldn't quite hear you."

"I said, 'I'm sorry'," Heat repeated in a hush tone of voice.

"Repeat? I still didn't hear it."

Heat's face starts to show anger from his humiliation, "I said, 'I'm sorry'."

"Loud enough, so that Columbo can hear ya, now."

"Look, if you heard me, then Columbo definitely heard me. He's a mouse, stupid!" Columbo squeaks something.

"Columbo says he's sorry too," Shorty interpreted.

"Ok. You all can go." Strike lets Columbo out of his cage.

"Where am I?" Frida opened her eyes and found that she was in a cage. She rubbed the back of her head, since the pain was the first thing she noticed when she had awakened. Someone definitely snuck up on her, that was a given. But, where was she now? As she looked to her right, she saw, that she was not alone in the white room. In the cage next to her, she saw two gray aliens, that looked alike to her.

"The artist," one of them said.

"Huh," Frida said with a groggy voice.

"You are," one started and the other finished, "the artist."

"Groove-tron? You both possess a grove-tron?"

"Yes. We would use out powers to get out, but they crampt us in here," the first one said.

"With no room to dance," the second one finished.

"Who captured us?"

"Corporation 'X'. They wish to use the powers of our groove-tron devices to rule the world. They tried to use ours, but it did not work," the second one said.

"Huh? Why?"

"For one thing, the groove-trons work the best with their intended masters. Secondly, since Lala and I dance together, we had combined our groove-trons to make us stronger, while we dance."

"We are Capoeria. But, recently, we had named ourselves Kiki and Lala. I am Lala. And, that is Kiki."

"Combining groove-trons? I've never heard of that."

"It is safe to do, but could be potentially dangerous to their users. Since Kiki's and my groove-trons were similar, we thought it safe to combine ours. The reason why they can not use ours is because their minds will never become one."

Kiki nodded, "Groove-trons know their masters. But, groove-trons hold too many secrets for them."

"So, instead of using humans…."

"They choose to build a robot which pocesses powers similar to those of the groove-tron."

"They believe this strategy will be more efficient then building a groove-tron and then trying to find a human that is worthy enough of working it."

"They are using the tournament to flush out the person with the best mastery of groove-tron."

Frida blinked, "What will they do after they find that person?"

"We have not heard yet."

Lala started to wave his hands in the air, as if stretching, "They will not let any of us go until they have studied all the properties of our groove-trons."

"And, even after that, they will not let Lala and me go."

"They have to let me out," Frida said as she started shaking the bars, "I'm in the tournament!"

"This is it, Shorty," Heat said as he looked at Shorty's house.

"Hey. I thought Frida was supposed to meet us here."

"Yeah. I wonder where she is."

"Let's wait for her."

"NO, NO. Shorty, just go to bed. I'll just sit out here for an hour or so and walk her home when she comes back."

"Ok, Heat. Goodnight!" She came up on her tippy toes as he leaned down to hug her. Then Columbo and she ran off inside. Heat smiled as Shorty peeked out at him from the window, then finally turned out the light. After he saw the curtain close, he started to run off.

"Oh, no. Why did I have to be so stupid and suggest that we split up," Heat began to think, "And, what if I was wrong? What if I lead her straight to Pinky Diamond and I didn't even know it? Or even someone worse than her?"


	8. What's Happening Here?

His search of the sewers came out with no result, or so he thought. As he turned around, he tripped over something, "OW!" After he sat up on his hands with a scowl, he kicked what he thought was a pipe. But, it never made the clanging sound he thought it would. "Huh?" When, we got to his knees, he picked it up, "A wire? But, what's this doing down here?" After he looked around, he swore he saw a spark of light from one of the tunnels that the cord ran into. As he walked, dragging the wire in hand, he saw that it was a definite spark flickering colors of purple, fuchsia, red, yellow, and orange on the walls casting a moving shadow of whatever was there with it. He gasped as he entered a large room with pipes and stoves pulsing and wiggling about. "Man, I'm definitely not in Chicago anymore because I've just stepped into the 'Phantom of the Opera's' quarters."

"What!? Who's there?" As running foot steps were coming out, Heat dove for cover behind one of the pipes. "I know you're there. If you don't come out, I'll gas you dead," said a voice with a Texan accent.

"…."

"I'm counting to ten! 1…2…ah, forget the count, it'll be more fun testing my gas on you anyway."

Heat came out of hiding, holding his hand out towards where the voice came from, "You try to gas me and I guarantee that you'll die in a blink of an eye!"

"We'll BOTH die! You'd make an explosion!"

"God, you're stupid. You can't see AND you can't count!" He lit his palm on fire, "I control flames, you dimwit. Now, where's Frida?"

"Who?"

"Dark girl with blue hair."

"Her!? I haven't seen her since the day of contest entries."

"Huh? Then, what the hell are you doing here?"

"If you put away your flame, we'll talk."

"Kitty-Nakajima?"

Kitty-X turns around, "That's Kitty-N!"

The man looks at Hiro, then back at Kitty-X, "My. You're taller than we expected you to be. May we ask a favor of you?"

"What is it?"

"Well, we're part of the advertising committee for the Bust-A-Groove tournament. It will be televised, so we need a commercial-."

"What are you getting to?"

"Do the commercial," Hiro shouts.

The man hushes Hiro, "What he meant to say was that it's a guarantee that you'll be in the tournament Miss Nakajima and we wanted to ask if you'd like to showcase some of your moves for the commercial".

"I'd love to."

"Then will you please follow us, Miss Nakajima?"

She starts to follow, "Why are you filming the commercial so late at night?"

"Well, being one of the last people to audition for the tournament, we could not ask you until you were done. And, you're a TV star. You should know that wrapping up the commercial as soon as possible saves everyone money."

"You have a point."

"You've got to be kidding me! The contest CAN'T be a sham!"

Gas-O looked back at Heat, "You have to believe me, Heat. I saw what I saw."

"So, …I'm supposed to believe that you witnessed two gray aliens refusing to tell some guy about how to make a dancing robot? Tell me, when did this event happen again?"

"This morning. When I was trying to get more wires to juice up my gas machine."

"Do you remember where you went?"

"Where do you think I'm taking you now?"

"Oh, I don't know. To a nice, little, quiet place where you could chop me up into little pieces."

Gas-O laughed at him, "Oh, I'd never do that. Now, you see that tunnel over there?" He pointed to the left. "Go have yourself a peek." Heat watched him as he went to the source of light and looked down below. He let out a gasp at what he witnessed.


	9. Meet toy Robo-Z

Meet toy Robo-Z

"Kitty-N, please take your spot," the director said. As Kitty-X did so, she noticed a robot being walked towards her. "Careful…careful…STOP!" The puppet handler stopped the robot.

Hiro ran around the robot, "Wow! I've never seen anything like this! But, where's the strings?"

"The puppet master's over there." Both Kitty-X and Hiro looked to see a man at a computer terminal.

"You control this wirelessly, from the terminal!?" Hiro ran over and started to look over the man's shoulder.

"Are you ready, Kitty-N?"

As Heat watched, he noticed two familiar sensations. One was comforting and the other was Frida. He kept walking around until he heard something.

"Heat? Heat, is that you," Frida asked.

Heat laid down and looked down through the vents, "Frida!"

Frida put her finger to our lips, "Shh! You have to stop Kitty-N from dancing against that robot and get us out of here." Frida looked as she heard music in the distance, then back up, "Hurry!" Heat noticed that the comforting sensation were from the two grey aliens next to Frida. "Heat," Frida scolded.

"Right." Heat got up and ran back towards Gas-O. "We need to stop them from dancing!"

Gas-O looked down, then back at Heat, "I have knock-out gas, but I don't think I got enough on me."

"How much?!"

"Only enough to knock miss kitty out."

"WHAT!?"

"I'm not Hercules, you know!" He stomped his foot, "I only carry enough to spray two people, tops! To knock out the whole room, I'll need to go back."

"We don't have TIME to go back! We need to stop them, now!"

Hiro looked at the puppet master, "Did you hear that?"

"Yeah. But, isn't that the music?"

"No. It wasn't that. And, what's that smell?"

"Oh, crap! I forgot the gas," Gas-O said as he started to run off.

"HEY! Come-." The next thing Heat knew, he fell through the ceiling. Hiro turned around and posed with his photo in his hand. Everyone looked as the lights flickered on and off. Robo-Z turned to Kitty-X and started to attack her. Kitty-X counterattacks and the whole studio begins to rattle. The puppeteer's computer explodes.

"HEAT," Frida yelled. None of them have felt power like this from Grove-tron devices. Robo-Z's arm fell off. Kitty-X never flinched. Kitty-X was as much as a natural with the groove-tron device as Heat was. But, they knew he never displayed as much power and control over it, like Kitty-X had. They attacked each other, again.

Hiro ran over to the cages, "What the heck-?"

"Get us out!"

"Um, …oh geez!"

"Heat!" As Heat started to get up, Frida felt relived. She watched as Robo-Z started to best Kitty-X. Kitty-X grunted as the power started to tear at her leotard and mask and was pushing her backwards. Kitty-X could not defend herself anymore and yelled as Robo-Z's next attack knocked her off her feet. Robo-Z quickly turned to Frida. The energy from its groove-tron sent a chill down her spine. She was frozen in place. Next, she gasped as she felt herself being grabbed.

"Gottcha." She heard. Next, she turned and saw that it was Heat.

"Heat!" Robo-Z sent an attack in their direction and Heat shot a flame from his hand. The small traces of gas in the air exploded and an explosion shook them all to the floor. Kiki and Lala helped them both up and they all turned to leave. "Wait!" Soon, they saw Hiro dragging Kitty-X and Heat ran over to help. Robo-Z jumped between the two groups and looked at Frida.

"RUN," Capoeira yelled. Frida ran to rejoin Hiro, Kitty-X, and Heat as Capoeira started to fight Robo-Z. The four escaped through the sewers.


	10. Groovetron 101

Chapter 10 – Groove-tron 101

Author's note: I didn't mean this chapter to be this way. I wish there was a better way for it to be written. -_-;

"Heat?" Heat's thoughts were so heavy that he never heard the knock at his door. Once he heard Frida's voice, he got up and walked to the door. He felt the brightness that was Frida, on the other side. Once he felt that, he rushed to open the door. They looked at each other. He was wearing a white tank and white track pants that had a black stripe on the side. He did not have his hat on. Frida was wearing a pink shirt and blue jeans. "Can I…come in?" Heat nodded and let her in. He barely watched as she walked around. He started to notice that he seemed to recognize her movements, even with closed eyes. Heat looked up and rushed into his bedroom area. He saw Frida facing him, then she crossed her arms, "I thought that would get your attention." Heat looked away from her. Heat was never this quiet. Frida frowned, "Stop it, Heat. It wasn't your fault. Besides, that groove-tron device didn't belong to Kitty-X anyway."

Heat threw up his hands, "That what make this even worse, Frida! Someone who wasn't even chosen to have a groove-tron device proved herself to be more powerful than any of us and she barely halfway beat Robo-Z!"

"That was the first time they attempted to link a groove-tron into Robo-Z. Capoeira could've beaten it!"

"Frida, we both know that they didn't. What if next time that thing comes back, it kills one of my friends! What if next time, it gets-!"

"It's not going to get me," Frida yelled. She looked teary eyed.

"Frida-."

"It's going to be fine, Heat. Kitty-X couldn't defeat it only because she didn't know how to use the groove-tron device to its best potential." She looked at the floor as she believed what she said, but did not know how true it was in their situation.

He walked up to her, "Well, she knew how to use it better than I do."

"Heat, I can't believe that you still know nothing about owning a groove-tron device."

"I'm a natural. I can handle it."

"Heat, you never met anyone with a groove-tron device before. There's rules."

Heat's tone of voice became soft, "I've met you."

Frida's eyes softened and she shook her head. "Heat, …." She stood in front of him. "The first thing you need to know is that you can only attack on opponent twice within five minutes. You cannot attack with the device, if you're not in rhythm with the music."

"Can't attack more than twice in five minutes. Got it."

"However, you can use the device in a limited setting, like I did with Kitty-N." Heat then, thought that that was the reason he was able to attack Robo-Z without moving. Gas-O used his grove-tron to create different gases, so the energy was ready for Heat to draw from. "And, according to Capoeira, groove-tron devices can be combined so that their powers can be used together."

"Really?"

Frida took his hands in hers, "Yeah." Frida gasped. An aura surrounded them. Both of their eyes turned white. Frida did not think it would be this easy to sync groove-tron devices, but that was not her intention. Heat was always curious about getting closer to her, but she never knew about the sensation until now. She did not know where she was. There was smoke of all different colors all around her. So, she started to dance. Her body was covered with sashes and ribbons of all different colors. As she danced, she felt someone drawing closer to her. She turned around and saw it was Heat. He was dressed similarly, but only in colors of red, orange, yellow, and white. He put his arms around her and they started to dance together. Their moves started to sync and Frida started to realize that happiness that Capoeira experiences through their dance. Heat and Frida were dancing and laughing together. He picked her up and started spinning her around with her body against his. They were laughing, everything was so beautiful. As Heat slowed to a stop, Frida felt the energy change between them. She threw her head back, relaxed, and took in a deep breath. She felt him hold her closer. After she breathed out, she noticed that their breathing were in sync. She looked down at him as he felt one of his hands go down to her knee. He was looking up at her. She could not hear him, but she saw that he said her name. The energy changed between them changed, again. He tore off two of the ribbons and reached for another. "Heat, no!" The vibrant clouds around them started to dim. She could see that Heat was not himself. "Heat, stop!" She tried pushing away from him, but she could not escape his grip. He tore off another two ribbons. "Heat-!" Their eyes met. She could feel his heartbeat. She started to realize how intensely that he was drawn to her groove-tron device. The look in his eyes, he could not help himself. She started to see that she always had his attention. Her groove-tron drew him into this place. Then, she started to see how he felt about her and she stopped struggling. She started to become more drawn to him and lost control of her conscious self. "Heat…." He stopped pulling at the ribbons and spun her around twice. She was leading their sync before, but neither knew what was happening, now. The clouds around them turned brighter than before. After a while, she noticed that the clouds started turning grey. His eyes became red and his power started overwhelming her. He was stronger than she could imagine. She sensed the duality his groove-tron's draw for her. She looked in his eyes, "HEAT-!" She blinked and saw that she was back in Heat's room, but she could not move. She noticed that he was drawing her closer to him. She focused on him and attempted to give him a jolt from her groove-tron device, "HEAT!" She saw him blink twice, then shake his head. All that he could read from Frida's face was shock. She ran out of the apartment and sat on the floor.

"Frida!" He followed after her. After he exited, he sat next to her. "Frida?" She turned and looked at him, but did not say anything. "Frida, are you okay?"

"That was my fault, Heat." As she looked at him, she knew she felt differently about him.

"What was? What happened?"

"You don't remember?" He shook his head. "I don't either. I think I accidently synced our groove-tron devices and…." She felt different looking into Heat's eyes. All of the things she felt when they were synced, she was not sure if she wanted to know if all of those feelings were true.

He saw that she was sad, "Frida-."

She started to get up, "I have to go." She ran off. The only thing Heat remembered was the feeling of his groove-tron device taking over his mind. For some reason the sync made his groove-tron want to look for hers, even more.


End file.
